Multiple cigarette or the like



Nov. 13, 1945. H. R. BAUER ETAL 2,339,104

MULTIPLE CIGARETTE OR THE LIKE Filed July 25, 1941 l INVENTORS /4 J/WIyZE-BQMWWI'IZMMABOgg 9.12 BY ,7

ATTOR-N EY Patented Nov. 13, 1945 MULTIPLE CIGARETTE OR THE LIKE HenryR. Bauer and William A. Bogg, Fairfleld, Conn., said Bog: asslgnor tosaid Bauer Application July 25, 1941, Serial No. 403,956

12 Claims.

The present invention relates to rolls of tobacco or the like materialused forsmoking purposes, and, more particularly, to multiplecigarettes, cigars, or the like.

With cigarettes now in use, much of the cigarette is wasted on manyoccasions due to the fact that the user desires or has only sumcienttime to take a "short" smoke. This is especially true of the worker whohas or may take a short recess period during which he may smoke. At thistime, he lights up a cigarette and after smoking a short part of it heeither throws-it away or extinguishes it, known as butting or snipping,"and stores it until a later time when he may have an opportunity toagain smoke it.

If the cigarette is thrown away, a substantial part of it is wasted.This is especially true if the user is smoking a long cigarette.

If the cigarette is extinguished or butted and stored, the smoke remainsin the unused portion of the cigarette so as to impair its taste andmakes it less enjoyable when relighted.

It has been heretofore proposed to make a cigarette in which the wrapperwas weakened intermediate the ends so that it could be broken in two toprovide short smokes if desired. This, however, was entirelyunsatisfactory and impractical, for the broken end of the cigaretteproduced straggly ends having loose tobacco which are undesirable asthey become more or less dry and the tobacco strips and falls therefrominto the pocket or into the pocketbook of a lady smoker.

Further, if the straggly end is lighted, a dangerous condition ispresent due to the loose lighted tobacco falling therefrom which maydamage the clothing and burn the user. If the other end is lighted, thenthe user is bothered with loose tobacco in his mouth.

The present invention overcomes these and other difliculties'byproviding thenovel cigarette which may be severed completely and cleanlyintermediate its ends to produce short cigarettes if desired. Each ofthe cigarettes thus produced will be a complete unit only shorter inlength than the original or a standard length cigarette.

This is accomplished according to the present invention by providingdividing means at suit able intervals in a rod of tobacco or the likefiller, and enclosing the entire rod of tobacco with the dividing meanstherein in a suitable wrapper which may be severed at a point or pointsadiacent the dividing means so that the cigarette can be separated intoa plurality of shorter cigarettes. Y

The dividing means extends across the rod of tobacco and separates itinto complete units. According to the present invention, this means maybe a disk or a cap-like or boot-like element disposed therein, or it maycomprise a pair of filter tips disposed between the ends of thecigarette. The first two types of filter means may be made ofcombustible material and provided with draft apertures through which airand fire may pass from one unit of tobacco to the other, in which casethe cigarette may be smoked in its entirety should the user desire along smoke or separated to provide a plurality of short cigarettes.

The wrapper may be provided with means to facilitate the tearing of thesame or with suitable indicia to indicate the point adjacent thedividing means at which it is to be severed.

The organization of. the dividing means and the wrapper may be such thatthe dividing means cooperates with the wrapper in the severing thereof,thus facilitating or otherwise insuring the division of the cigarette atthe point or points of separation of the tobacco inthe rod.

When the disk is used, it may serve as an advertising medium and havesuitable indicia thereon, the disk becoming available upon the cigarettebeing severed into its multiple units.

In its broader aspects, the invention can be applied to cigars or otherrolls of material adapted to be smoked in the manner or tobacco. Fur-'ther, the cigar, cigarette or the like may be arranged so that it can bedivided into as many sections as desired by duplicating the dividingmeans within the length thereof.

Other features and advantages will be apparent from the specificationand claims when considered in connection with the drawing, in which:Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of one form of the invention.7

Fig. 2 is a plan view of one of the dividing disks. Fig. 3 is a planview of another dividing disk. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional viewof another form of the invention.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a pair of caps, or boots, showing theperforations.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of another form of theinvention.

Fig. 7 is a side elevational view showing the indicating line.

Fig. 8 is a side elevational view showing the tear string severingmeans.

Fig.8 is a view showing the separation of the two sections of thecigarette.

Fig. is a side view, partly in section, of a cigar embodying the presentinvention.

Fig. 11 shows a modified form of the invention.

Fig. 12 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing a plurality of disks of Fig.3 therein.

The present invention is illustrated as applied to a cigarette. Whilethe cigarette may be of any desired length. it is preferable that it beof a size which is longer than the normal standard cigarette.

This cigarette may be divided into two or more parts as required. Asshown in the drawing, the present invention includes a rod in of tobaccoor the like separated by a dividing means ii so that a plurality ofseparate nnits its and iOb of tobacco having cleanly cut or packed endsare formed. An overall wrapper i2 of paper or other suitable materialsurrounds the rod and dividing means. With the rod of tobacco thusseparated into complete units, it is only necessary to sever the wrapperintermediate these units and not the entire cigarette to produce a.plurality of short cigarettes having a length less than the standardlength of the cigarette.

The dividing means shown in Figs. 1 through 3 comprises a still? diskiia, iib having an area substantially the same as the cross-section ofthe rod of tobacco so as to completely separate the two units oftobacco. The disk is freely supported between the ends of the tobaccoandwhen the wrapper i2 surrounding the rod and disk is severed adjacentthe disk, the disk will drop out and two complete short cigarettes willbe formed.

The disks may be provided with suitable indicia which may be printedthereon, as shown at i! in Fig. 2, or formed by perforations in the diskas indicated at iSa in Fig. 3. This indicia may be in the nature ofadvertising matter and include the brand name and similar material.Inasmuch as the disks will drop out 'upon the wrapper of the cigarettebeing severed into a plurality of sections, they may also be used aspremium pieces.

It may be that the purchaser of a pack of cigarettes capable ofseparation would desire to smoke an entire cigarette as a unit or have a"long smoke. In order that this may beaccomplished, the presentinvention forms the disk iia. of a destructible material, preferably apaper-like combustible substance which will readily burn. Throughout thedisk is a plurality of apertures i3 through which air may be easilydrawn from end to end of the cigarette. Instead of relying upon theburning of the disk to ignite the next unit of tobacco, the aperturesmay be made of sufilcient size that the fire of the burning tobacco inone unit will be transmitted therethrough to ignite the tobacco in thenext adjacent section. It will be seen therefore that the cigarette thusformed can be smoked as a long" smoke or severed into a plurality ofshorter cigarettes to provide short" smokes.

The dividing means shown in Figs. 4 and 5 comprises a cap or boot 20made up of a transverse wall 2i and a collar 22 integral therewith orrigidly secured thereto. While one cap would be sufficient to divide therod iii of tobacco, in the preferred form of the invention, a pair ofcaps is employed and disposed with the transverse walls 2i adjacent oneanother as shown in Fig. 4 or slightly spaced from one another asrequired. The line of severance of the wrapper is disposed over theadjacent edges of the caps so that as the wrapper is severed, the twocomplete short cigarettes are formed. It will be noted that in each ofthese cigarettes the cap will remain and will form a tip for thecigarette if the smoker desires to use it as such.

In applying the wrapper I! to enclose the units Ila, ilb of the rod oftobacco of Fig. 4 and the caps 20, the inner surface or the first layerof the paper or the like wrapper may be secured to the collar 22 of eachcap. This greatly facilitates the tearing of the wrapper and theseparation of the cigarette into shorter units, for, as will be noted inFig. 9, the two portions of thecigarette can be grasped by the fingersadjacent the caps and twisted. As the caps move relatively to oneanother with the wrapper secured thereto, they will cause a rupture ofthe paper intermediate their adjoining ends as at I! to form the twosections iZa, i2b.

In this form of the invention, if it is desired .to provide a cigarettewhich may be smoked in its entirety as well as in the form of aplurality of units, the caps may be made of destructible material, and,preferably, of a material which will readily burn. The transverse walls2i of both of the caps are provided with apertures 23 which are alignedand form passages through which air may be drawn, and of sufilclent sizeto pass a fire from the tobacco of one cigarette unit to the other, asin the previously described form of the invention.

Many smokers not only prefer a short smoke, but also desire cigaretteswhich are provided with filter tips or similar devices. According to thepresent invention, there is provided a multiple cigarette in which thedividing means comprises a pair of filter tips 30 disposed in end to endrelation as shown in Fig. 6, and dividing the rod ii'i into units oftobacco His and iilb.

These filter tips may be of any desired construction. Herein, they areillustrated as cartridges 3i having transverse walls 32 of foraminousmaterial enclosing a supply of smoke-filtering material 33. If desired,an air space or cooling chamber 34 may be provided between the filter 33and the rod of tobacco. In this form of the invention, the wrapper issecured to each of the filter tips. Since the cigarette is not to besmoked in its entirety, the wrapper may be perforated adjacent theadjoining portions of the filter tips,

- so that it can be readily severed at this point.

With this construction, when it is desired to separate the cigarettesinto shorter cigarettes, it is merely necessary to grip the cigaretteadjacent the filters and twist the two parts of the cigarette as shownin Fig. 9. This will rupture the paper adjacent the adjoining ends ofthe filters and provide two short cigarettes each having a filter tip.

Other means may be provided for severing the cigarettes into theirmultiple units. One of these is shown in Fig. 3, wherein the disk ilb ispro- ,vided with a serrated or toothed periphery it. When this isdisposed beneath the wrapper, and the pressure applied to the outersurface of the wrapper as by rolling it with the finger over a hardsurface, the serrations will pierce the wrapper and weaken it so that itwill be readily separated along this line.

In the cigarette shown in Fig. '7, a line iii is formed on the outersurface of the wrapper, by printing or other suitable means, and isdisposed over the dividing means and indicates the point of severance.The user of the cigarette may pass his fingernail, or a sharpinstrument, along this line and use the dividing means, that is, theside of the disk, the space between the ends 2i of the caps or the spacebetween the ends of the filter tips, as guiding means to cause completeseparation of the several units of the cigarette.

A still further means of severing the wrapper, which is applicable toall forms of dividing means, is shown in Fig. 8, wherein a tear stringI1 is included in th wrapper over the point of severance. By pulling thetear string, the wrapper is severed and the-cigarette divided into theseveral short cigarettes.

While the invention has been herein'illustrated as being applied to acigarette, in thebroader aspects it may be applied to cigars or othersimilar devices employing tobacco or other matter intended to be smoked.

Fig. shows the invention applied to a cigar in which the two ends of thecigar are rounded or curved to form tips, and the tiller is providedwith a. dividing means Ilc intermediate the ends so as to be separatedinto units and distinct from one another.

Further, the rod or filter of tobacco may be completely severed units,and, if desired, the adjoining ends of the units at which the c18-arette or the like is to be severed may be provided with collars similarto collars 22, as shown in Fig. 4, so as to aid in the severing of theunits into short cigarettes when the wrapper enclosing the same is torn.

The number of short cigarettes which may be embodied in a single unitmay be varied as required, the variation being accomplished by properlypositioning the desired number of dividing means therein as shown inFig. 11 wherein spaced caps are disposed therein and in Fig. 12 whereinspaced disks are use.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of thisinvention and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

We claim:

1. A multiple cigarette or the like comprising a plurality of physicallyseparate .units of tobacco of a relatively short length and havingcleanly severed packed ends disposed in end-to-end relation, a separatormember of combustible material between the ends, and a wrappersurrounding the tobacco and member and separable about the adjacent endsof the units of tobacco whereby the cigarette may be divided into aplurality of short cigarettes, said member having an edge adapted tocooperate in severing the wrapper during separation of the units.

2. A multiple cigarette or the like comprising a rod of tobacco havingcaps comprising a disk and supporting rim disposed therein to completelyseparate, the rod into a plurality of short units,

said caps being of combustible material and provided with apertures inthe disk through which air may pass from end to end of the cigarette,and a wrapper surrounding the tobacco and caps and separable adjacentthe disks of the caps whereby the cigarette may be smoked in itsentirety and the caps consumed or the cigarette may be severed adjacentthe caps into a plurality of short cigarettes.

3. A multiple cigarette or the like comprising a rod of tobaccoincluding a plurality of short units having packed and clean cut ends inend-to-end relation, severing means of combustible material thereinhaving an area substantially the same as the cross-sectional area of therod disposed in said rod and extending transversely thereof between saidends to divide the rod into separable units of less length than that ofthe cigarette, and a wrapper surrounding the tobacco and severing wallsof the caps whereby the cigarette may be means. said wrapper beingtransversely divisible at the severing means whereby the cigarette maybe divided into a plurality of short cigarettes or smoked as a whole.

4. A multiple cigarette orthe like comprising a rod of tobacco includingone or more disks of stlfl combustible material therein, said diskshaving an area substantially the same as the cross-sectional area of therod and extending transversely thereof to divide the rod into units ofless length than the cigarette, and having the edges thereof serrated toprovide a plurality of sharp projections, and a wrapper surroundingthe'tobacco and disk and adapted, when pressure is applied to thecigarette adjacent the serrated edge of the disk, to be severed and thecigarette divided into a plurality of complete short cigarettes.

5. A multiple cigarette or the like comprising a rod of tobaccoincluding a plurality of short sections having cleanly cut packed endsin end-toend relation including one or more disks of stiff materialfreely supported therein between the adjacent packed ends to divide therod into units of length less than that of the cigarette, a wrappersurrounding the tobacco and disks and separable adjacent the disks, eachof said disks having an edge cooperable to sever the wrapper thereaboutand separate the cigarette into a plurality of short cigarettes, thefreely supported disks readily separating from the cigarette when thelatter is severed into smaller cigarettes and having advertising indiciathereon.

6. A multiple cigarette or the like comprising a rod of tobacco having aplurality of substantially rigid caps disposed therein with thetransverse walls thereof adjacent one another, said caps dividing therod into units of length less than the cigarette, and a wrappersurrounding the tobacco and caps and separable at the adjacenttransverse severed into a plurality of short cigarettes.

'7. A multiple cigarette or the like comprising a rod of tobacco havingat intervals therein substantially rigid caps dividing the rod intounits'of length less than the cigarette, said caps enclosing the one endof each unit, and a wrapper surrounding the tobacco and caps andseparable at the adjacent transverse walls of the caps whereby thecigarette may be severed into a. plurality of short cigarettes eachhaving a tipped end.

8. A multiple cigarette or the like comprising a rod of tobacco having aplurality of substantially rigid caps disposed therein with thetransverse .walls thereof adjacent one another, said caps dividing therod into units of length less than the cigarette, and a wrappersurrounding the tobacco and caps and rigidly secured to each of saidcaps whereby twisting of said caps relative to one another causes thewrapper to tear between said caps and divide the. cigarette into aplurality of short cigarettes.

9. A multiple cigarette or the like comprising a rod of tobacco having aplurality of substantially rigid filters disposed therein with thetransverse walls thereof adjacent one another, said filters dividing therod into units of length less than the cigarette, and a wrappersurrounding the tobacco and filters and rigidly secured to each of saidfilters whereby twisting of said filters relative to one another causesthe wrapper to tear between said filters and divide the cigarette into aplurality of short cigarettes.

10. A multiple cigarette or the like comprising a rod of tobaccoincluding a plurality of short sections each having packed ends anddividing means therein disposed between adjacent packed if able to severthe wrapper adjacent the disk ends to completely separate the rod intounits of length less than the cigarette, said dividing means havingmeans thereon to assist in severing the wrapper therearound, saiddividing means being of combustible material and provided with aperturesfor the passage of air through the cigarette from end to end, and awrapper surrounding the tobacco and dividing means and separableadjacent the dividing means whereby the cigarette may be smoked in itsentirety and the dividing means consumed or the cigarette may be severedadJacent the dividing means into a plurality of short cigarettes.

11. A multiple cigarette or the like comprising a rod 01 tobaccoincluding a plurality of short sections each having the ends thereofcleanly cut and packed and a disk of combustible material havingsevering-assisting edges disposed therein between the adjacent packedends to completely separate the rod into units 01' a length less thanthe cigarette, said disk being provided with apertures through which aircan pass from end-to-end of said cigarette, and a wrapp r Surroundingthe tobacco and disk, the edge oi. the disk being oper-' whereby thecigarette may be smoked in its entiret and the disk 01' combustiblematerial consumed or the cigarette may be severed adjacent the disk intoa plurality of short cigarettes.

12. A cigarette Or the like comprising a rod of tobacco having a still.paper-like dividing means therein at predetermined intervals tocompletely separate the rod into units of a length less than thecigarette, each unit having cleanly cut and packed ends, said paper-likedividing means being of burnable material and provided with aperturescapable otpassing air and fire from one unit of tobacco to the other,and a wrapper surrounding the tobacco and dividing means, said dividingmeans cooperating to sever the wrapper therearound whereby the cigarettemay be smoked in its entirety and the dividing means consumed or thecigarette may be severed adjacent the dividing means into a plurality01' short complete cigarettes.

HENRY R. BAUER. WILLIAM A. BOGG.

